Green nod to Sawalkot Hydropower project

AMID the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recommended clearance for the Sawalkot hydropower project on the Chenab River in the Indus basin over which Pakistan claimed full rights under the treaty.

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ New Delhi

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MoEFCC evaluated the proposal on September 26 and noted that the 1,856-MW project, to be built at ₹31,380 crore, spans 1,401.35 hectares, which includes 847.17 hectares of forest land and 554.18 hectares of non-forest land. The project had previously received Stage-I forest clearance on July 10 this year.

The Sawalkot project consists of six units of 225 MW and one unit of 56 MW for Stage 1 (totalling 1,406 MW) and two additional units of 225 MW for Stage 2 (totalling 450 MW). It is a run-of-the-river project that will utilise water from the Chenab located in Ramban, Reasi, and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir.